Spring drawhead and buffer



July 29, 1941.

R. c. KEPNER SPRING DRAWHEAD AND BUFFER Filed July 18, 1938 vii/2230201vll/1, f/////////////////////, n

Patented July 29, 1941 2,250,537 SPRING DRAWHEAD AND BUFFER Robert C.

Kepner, Bloomsburg, Pa., assignor to American Car and' Foundry Company,New

York, N.

Y., a corporation of New J ers ey Application July 18, 1938, Serial No.219,734 I 12 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in drawheads and buffers ingeneral and in particular to such devices intended for use on mine orother industrial cars.

Previously constructed bufling and draft devices for mine and industrialcars have been quite expensive and hard to repair in most cases with theresult that the majority of cars of this type are still being built withwood or other cushioning blocks, which are not-satisfactory. It is anobject, therefore of the present invention to provide a combined draftandV buffer device which is inexpensive, simple and easily repaired.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a combined draftand buffer device which may be fullyassembled as a unit exterior of thecar and then quickly attached to the car or readily removed for repair.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a bumperelement which transmits both the builing and draft forces to springsthrough suitable followers carried by the bumper itself.

A still Vfurther object of the invention is the provision of aibuiferdevice in which the buer or bump receiving face is strengthened duringsuch times as it is resisting the buflng forces.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a study of the following description andaccompanying drawing,in which: Y

Figure 1 is a plan View of the improved device with portions broken awayto more clearly disclose the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the device with portions broken away todisclose the interior construction;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3 3 of Figure 1,and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that themechanism has been illustrated as applied to a car having an end housingA in which the preassembled buing and draft device B is slidablymounted. The end housing is formed in the present instance of twoplates, the upper of which is bent to substantially Z-formhaving a longupper flange 2, web 4 and short lower flange 6, while the lower plate 8is substantially flat and is adapted to be secured to the short flangeof the upper member by any suitable means such asjrivets l0. In thepresent instance the end ofthe car floor l2 is interposedA between theupper and lower plates, while the sides thereof are attached in anysuitable manner to the side sills I4 which in the present instance areof inverted bulb angle form. The upper or Z-formed portion of thehousing has the top flange extended as at I6 to overlap lthe flange ofthe side sill for. attachment thereto by any suitable means, such asI8,y while the lower plate is securely attached to the web of the sillsby angle means 20. It will thus be seen that an extremely rigid housingis formed which may be easily attached to the car structure leaving anopen pocket facing outwardly of the car for reception of the combined4bufiing and draft device later to be described.l In case a rigid endwall is desired, this may beattached to the end housing by means ofangle 2.2 welded or otherwise secured to the top flange of the upperhousing member. The web of the upper housing member is braced andstiifenedby means of buttressing gussets 24 welded or otherwise securedto the web and short flange immediately v,behind the most heavilystressed sections.. VIn forming the upper member of the end housing theouter central portion of the flange 2 is ,removed as at 26 in order-,toreceive a draftr member laterto be referred to. and is also pierced oneither side thereof as at 28 to receive bolts later to be referred toYand which are adapted to extend into holes 36 pierced `in the lowerplate.

The combined buffer and draft device itself consists of a bumper elementhaving an upper flange 32 and lower flange V34 extending rearwardlyfromva connecting web or buing face 36 curved to any desired radius. 'I'heupper and lower flanges are of considerable depth and are providedadjacent theirfrearv edges with follower lugs 38 of substantially U-formhaving the legs 40 extending forwardly `toward thev buing face. Thesefollower lugsv are securely weldedror otherwise fastened to the rearportion of the bumper flanges in such a. position as to receivetherebetween backvstop blocks 42 secured to the web of the end housingby any suitable means such as countersunk rivets 44;` In order toreinforce the builing face and transfer' bufng forces to the springs areinforcing and stiffening plate 45 is provided having its fr'ontportioncurved in conformity with the buing face, whileits rear portion islwelded 'or followers .48 carrying on their rear faces short sectionsof'tubing welded thereto to form spring centering lugs 50. 'I'he rearportion of thestiffenng plate is slotted as at 52 in orderl that it maymove inward relative to bolts 54 extending through the holes 28'and. 30of the top and bototherwisev secured to front tom housing plates. Thesebolts will prevent outward movementl of the front followers and theattached reinforcing and bump transferring plate. It will be necessary,ofcourse, in order to permit inward and outward motion of the bumper forslots 55 to be out in the top and bottom flanges as clearly shown inFig. 3. In some instances where the bumping strains will be excessiveblocks may be welded to the top and bottom flanges of the bumper oneither side of the slots and ahead of the front followers, thus causingthe top and bottom bumper flanges to transfer strains to the frontfollower and assist the stiffening plate. In order to provide increasedbearing area for coupling pin 56 a plate 58 is welded to the centralportion of the top bumper ange immediately ahead of angular coupler bar66 which has its rear portion extending through the top ange of thebumper to which it is fastened. The coupler bar reinforcing plate andtop and bottom flanges of the bumper have openings therein adapted toreceive the coupling pin, while*v the stiffening plate has a slot 62formed therein in order that the coupling pin may move outward relativethereto. It is to be noted that the reinforcing plate 58 and coupler bar60 are of such width as to t between the sides of slot 26 in the topflange of the end portion, thus not only providingdraft portions butguiding the bumper element and relieving the bolts 54 of any materialside shear which they otherwise vmight receive from angular buingstrains. 1n order to resiliently absorb the buing and draft shockssprings 64are provided having their front ends bearing against the frontfollower plates, while their rear ends bear against rear follower plates68 adapted to have .bearing on follower lugs and back stop blocks. Thesprings are maintained in properrelation upon the back followers bysuitable centering means such as a section of tubing 'i0 welded orotherwise secured to the rear followers.

The combined bumper and draft unit may be readily assembled by insertingthe stiffener plate with its attached front followers into the bumpermember, after which the springsfare placed in position and put undersuicient compression to permit insertion of `the rear followers 68-ahead of the follower lugs which have been welded to the flanges of.the bumper cap. It is, of course, obvious that if under certainyconditions this compression necessary for assembly is excessive, theouter ears or legs 40 of the follower 'lugs may be made removable andattached after the insertion of the rear followers. The unit may also beas-` sembled of course, by weldingthe follower lugs in position as afinal step in the assembly operation. As soon as the unit is assembledthen the entire unit may be bodily inserted into the end housing andbol-ts 54 dropped int-o position retaining the unit in the end housing.

The operation of the improveddevice is as follows: Assuming a bumpingforce be imparted to the bumping face, this force will be transferredthrough stiffening plate 46 to the front foll-owers 48, thence throughthe springs to the rear followers B8 which are held Vagainst inwardmovement by the stop blocks 42. During this inward movement of thebumper capY and reinforcing plate. the follower lugs 38 will move awayfrom the rear followers, while the reinforcing plate will move inwardrelative to the fixed bolts 54 with the inward movement of the couplingpin `and coupler bar being permitted due to the slots formed inthe upperand lower housingplatesas well as in the stiifening plate. Uponapplication of a draft for-ce to the coupling pin the entire bumper capassembly will move outward with the draft strain being transferredthrough the bumper flanges to the follower lugs, thence through backfollowers 68 `and springs 64 to the front followers 48 which are held inposition by means of the bolts 54 extending through the top and bottommembers of the end housing. During the outward moti-on of the bumper thebumper cap will move away from the stiffening vplate and such movementis permitted by the slot 62 in the stufen-ing plate. It will thus beseen that a unit `has been provided whi-ch may be preassembled andquickly attached to the car or removed therefrom yand that if any partsare damaged they may be easily replaced or repaired without in any wayaffecting the other parts of the unit. It should also be noted that thestiffening plate will back up the bumping 4face of the bumper duringsuch times as buffer forces are being received, thereby lessening thepossibility -of damage being done to the bufling face.

While the improved device has been -described m-ore or less in detail,it is obvious that various modifications, rearrangements of parts andchanges in manner of assembly will be apparent to persons after a studyo-f lthe construction and all such modifications, rearrangements ofparts and changes in assembly are contemplated as fall within the sc-opeof the following claims.

what is claimed is: l

l. A spring Ibumper for a vehicle comprising' in combinationl atransverse housing secured to the vehicle and having an opening directedout` ward the end of the vehicle, a bumper member' slidablelongitudinally of the vehicle and enclosed in par-t by said housing,.resilient mean-s resisting the longitudinal sliding ofthe bumpermember,and bumper reinforcing means extending laterally substantially the widthof said bumper land lstiffening substantially lthe entire centralportion thereof and transferring buing shocks therefrom to saidresilient means, said bumper reinforcing means being free of attachmentto said bumper and effective only during application of bufng forces. c

2. A spring bumper for a vehicle comprising in combination, a transversehousing secured to the vehicle and having an opening directed outwardvtoward the end of thevehi-cle, a, bumper member consisting ofagvertically disposed buff- -ing face 'and rearwardly -directed flanges,said bumper flanges extending into said housing and being slidablelongitudinally thereof, resilient means opposing the longitudinal4sliding of the bumper member, and bumper reinforcing means extending'laterally substantially the width Vof said bumper substantially parallelto said anges and stiffening the buliing face' intermediate said flangesand transferring bufng shocks from ythe buffing face to said resilientmeans, said bumper reinforcing means being Ifree of attachment to saidbumper and effec-tive only during applicaltion of buing forces.

3. A spring bumper and draft device for a vehicle comprising incombination, a transverse housing secured to the vehicle `and having anopening directed -outward .toward the end of the vehicle, a combinedbumper 'and draft member slidable longitudinally of the vehicle andVenclosed in part by said housing, sai-d member consisting 1n part of abufiing face and rearwardly directed,

flanges, at lea-st oneof which-isrprovided with coupler receivingmean-s, resilient1 means. resisting theV longitudinal Asli-ding *of .thebumper member,- bumper reinforcing means extending Vlaterallysubstanti-ally the width of said bumpersubstantially parallel to saidflanges and stiifening the central portion of the bung f-ac'e'andtransferring buiiing shock-s to the resilient means, and follower lugssecured to said rearwardly directed flanges for transferring :draftforces from said flanges to the resilient means.

4. A spring bumper and ydraft device for a vehicle comprising incombination, a transverse housing secured to the vehicle and having anopening directed outward toward the end of the Vehicle, -a combinedbumper and draft member slid-able longitudinally of the vehicle` andenclosed in part by said hou-sing, said member consisting in part of abufflng face and rearwardly directed flanges, at least one of which isprovided with coupler receiving means, anchor means carried by said endhousing and retaining said 'member within the housing, follower lugssecured to said rearwardly directed flanges, a rear follower normallyengaging said lugs, a front follower normally engaging said anchormeans, resilient means urging said followers apar-t, bumper reinforcingmeans stiifening the bu-fn-g face and transferring bufting shocks to thefront follower independently of said anchor means during inward movementof the bumper, and a back stop carried by said end housing to preventinward movement of the rear follower.

5. A spring bumper and draf-t device for a vehicle compri-sing incombination, a transverse housing secured lto the vehicle and having anopening directed outward toward the end of the vehicle, a combinedbumper yand draft member slidable longitudinally of the vehicle andenclosed in part by said housing, said member consisting in part of abufling face and rearwardly directed flanges, at least one of which isprovided with coupler receiving means, anchor means carried by Isaid endhousing and retaining said member within the housing, follower lugssecured to said rearwardly directed flanges, a rear follower normallyengaging said lugs, a front follower norm-ally engaging said anchormeans, resilient means urging said followers apart, bumper reinforcingmeans stiffening the buftlng face and transferring fbuiling shocks tothe front follower during inward movement of the bumper, and 'a backstop carried by said end housing .to prevent inward movement of the rearfollower, said back stop being interposed between said follower lugs andbeing operative to guide the bumper during its sliding movements.

6. A vspring bumper and draft device for a vehicle comprising incombination, a transverse hou-sing secured to the vehicle and having anopening directed outward .toward the end of the vehicle, a combinedbumper and draft member slidable longitudinally of the vehicle andenclose-d in part by said housing, said member consisting in par-t of Iabuiling face and rearwardly directed flanges, at leas-t one of which isprovided with coupler receiving means, anchor means carried by said endhousing and retaining said member within the housing, follower lugssecured to said rearwardly directed flanges, a rear follower normallyengaging said lugs, a front follower normally eng-aging said anchormeans and retained against outward movement thereby but independentlythereof, and resilient means urging said followers apart, said followerlugs carrying said rear -follower forward to compres-s the resilient 3means during outward movement of the bumper member under draft forces, 1f

7. A Vspring bumper an-d draft device'for a `vehicl-e comprising incombination, a housing-'arranged at the end portion of the vehicle andhaving upper and lower plates arranged in spaced relation, and :acombined bumper and draft member slidably mounted in saidf housing, saidbumper and-draft member compri-sing a bufrlng` face and rearwardlydirected upper and lower flanges., at least Yone of said vflanges beingprovidedv with coupler receiving means, a front follower within thebumper and rvdraf-t member, a stationary element exten-ding betweenV.the upper and lower plates and through the flanges of said bumper anddraft member and against which the front follower 'is norm-ally engaged,4said stationary member constitu-ting an abutment for limiting movementof said front follower in one direction, a rear follower, resilientmeans urging said followers apart, and means on vsaid upper an-d lower'il-anges engaging the rear `follower to move the latter longitudinallyin the housing to compress the resilient means under draft forces.

8. A spring bumper and draft device for a vehicle comprising incombination, a transverse end housing secured to the vehicle and havingan opening directed outward .toward Ithe end of the vehicle, a combinedbumper and draft member slidable longitudinally of the vehicle andenclosed in part by said housing, said member consi-sting in part of abuing face and rearwardly directed flanges, at least one of which isprovided with coupler receiving means, a bolt extending across said endhousing for retaining said bumper member within the hou-sing, a frontfollower normally engaging said bolt, resilient means urging saidfollower `against the bolt, means carried by said end housing providinga seat for said resilient means, and bumper reinforcing means extendingsubstantially parallel to said flanges and. engaging the centralporti-on of said bumper face to stiifen the same and transfer buingshocks to said front follower rand resilient means independently of saidbolt. Y

9. A combined spring bumper and draft unit comprising in combination, abumper member having a web providing a bumping face and rearwardlydirected flanges, follower lugs secured to said flanges, a rear followerengageable with said lugs, a front follower, resilient means urgingsai-d followers apart, Iand bumper reinforcing means engageable with theintermedi-ate portions of said web and front follower, said bumperreinforcing means being secured to the front follower and free ofattachment .to sai-d web.

10. A combined spring bumper and draft unit comprising in combination, abumper member having a web providing a bumping face and rearwardlydirected flanges, follower lugs secured to the rear edges of saidflanges, a rear follower engageable with said lugs, a front follower,resilient means urging sai-d followers apart, and bumper reinforcingmeans engageable with said web and front follower, 4an end housinghaving an outwardly directed opening defined in part by upper and lowerflanges, said unit being insertable as a whole into said housing, andretaining means extending through said upper and lower flanges intoengagement with the front follower to prevent outward movement thereof.

llll. A combined spring bumper and draft uni-t comprising incombination, a bumper member having a web providing a bumping face andrearwardly directed flanges, follower lugs secured to the rear edges ofsaid, flanges, a rear follower engageable with said lugs, -a front`follower, resilient means urging said followers apart, and bumperreinforcing means engageable with said web and front follower, yan endhousing having an outwardly ldirected opening ydefined in part by upperand lower flanges, a stop carried by said housing at the rear of theopening, said unit `being insertable yas a whole into said housing withthe rear follower engaging the stop, and retaining means extendingthrough said upper yand lower flanges into engagement with the frontfollower to prevent outward movement thereof.

l112. A combined springgbumper and draft unit comprising in combination,abumper member having a web providing a bumping face and rearwardlydirected flanges, follower lugs secured to said flanges, a rear followerengageable with said lug-s, a front follower, resilient means urgingsaid followers apart, bumper reinforcing means eng'ageable with theintermediate portions of said web Vand front follower, lsaid bumperreinforcing means being secured to the front follower and free ofattachment to said web, an end housing having an outwardly directedopening defined in part by upper and lower flanges, a stop carried bysaid housing at the rear of the opening, said unit being insertable as aWhole into said housing with the rear follower engaging the stop, andretaining mean-s extending through said upper and lower flanges intoeng-agement with the front follower to prevent outward movement thereof.

ROBERT C. KEPNER.

